That Asus looks like a good choice. I have an X-Fi Xtreme Gamer, but apart from the ridiculous name they've also gone up in price by about £20-30. Doesn't seem worth spending that much on a sound card.

08-09-2011, 02:04 PM

Patrick Swayze

I'll second the Asus Xonar, paired with some Steel Series V2 headphones. Absolute audio bliss. Friends and family members are always wowed by the quality and also the comfort of the headphones.

08-09-2011, 04:03 PM

CuriousOrange

I had an X-fi but I thought it gave worse sound than my onboard and sent it back. Money spent on decent headphones helps far more than money on a soundcard imo. I use my motherboards built in soundcard with Reason to create and record music, it works absolutely fine. Soundcards are a waste of money unless you have a specific reason for using one.

08-09-2011, 04:20 PM

Nova

Since I use the UNI Xonar drivers I'm also very happy with my Asus Xonar DX.

08-09-2011, 07:03 PM

Rii

There's so much FUD out there about soundcards these days. And I for one can't be bothered sorting the wheat from the chaff. Maybe I'm missing out, maybe not, but certainly 'not giving a shit' appears to have its advantages.

08-09-2011, 07:09 PM

imirk

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rii

but certainly 'not giving a shit' appears to have its advantages.

when has it not had it's advantages? :P

Maybe I've got low standards, or buy way too expensive of mobos. but for driving headphones I've never been left wanting using onboard sound.

08-09-2011, 07:50 PM

Kadayi

Quote:

Originally Posted by imirk

Maybe I've got low standards, or buy way too expensive of mobos. but for driving headphones I've never been left wanting using onboard sound.

Well tbh I'd been using onboard sound for years, but I got into playing hardcore Arma 2 and quite a few of the other guys swore by dedicated sound cards, so I thought I'd give it a punt (a DG isn't going to break the bank). The step up in sound quality was noticeable. Everything is crystal clear and music audio sounds a hell of a lot crisper and you can use emulate surround sound as well.

08-09-2011, 08:21 PM

slick_101

I'll third that Asus card! Because I currently have the 7.1 version and I prefer it greatly over on-board sound.

08-09-2011, 09:30 PM

Vandelay

I'm on onboard sound and I think my logitech x-530s sound great through it (particularly the bass.) Unfortunately, the rear speakers are shit. When playing a game, facing away from the sound source means you can barely hear it. However, I think that is more likely to be the fault of the speakers themselves than the onboard sound.

I might consider a dedicated sound card if I was using speakers worth about £100 (namely, a fair step up from what I'm using,) but there doesn't seem to be anything in that price range. There are some that are about £10-20 more expensive and then nothing until about £150-200 and then you are looking at big things.

08-09-2011, 09:40 PM

Nova

Current onboard sound is good if you output it digitally. Their analog converters are usually awful and so is the sound if you output it this way.

09-09-2011, 02:39 AM

Calreth

I've an Asus Xonar DG, and its onboard headphone amp does wonders.

09-09-2011, 03:05 AM

DarthBenedict

+1 on the Xonar DG. It's amazing how much difference it makes compared with onboard, and it's very cheap. Just make sure to install the drivers and turn on the surround virtualization if you use headphones.